Transaction Banking

A community for discussing technology trends, views and perspective in global transaction banking

Retired Member 

Tackling The Wrong End Of the Problem

I noticed an article in the Press today suggesting that the authorities were now considering creating a ‘bad bank’ (we already have more than one, but I know what they mean), into which could be placed up to £260 billion in toxic debts from the banks. The expectation is that this would free the banks to lend more by replacing those debts with cas...

14 January 2009 /regulation /retail

Retired Member 

Bank Insults with Mailshot

Of course, few people are happy with bankers at the moment, but they're not doing much to help themselves. In fact, the most recent communication from my bank (I won't say which one, but it begins with a letter near the start of the alphabet) has incensed me no end. They've sent me a mailshot offering a loan. Not in itself a thing to get underpa...

12 January 2009 /regulation

Retired Member 

Let's Waste Another Billion on SCV...

If this is the future of regulation, then God help us. I can't think of a bigger waste of money (at least, not at the moment, but I'm sure something will turn up) than spending £1 billion plus (let's not kid ourselves, this would cost a whole lot more) on getting all banks to devise and build (and maintain) a system that provided a single customer...

09 January 2009 /regulation

Retired Member 

Savers RIP...

...almost. So the authorities have shaved another 0.5% off rates to 'help the economy'. It certainly doesn't help savers (who are the only people with money to spend) and it must be of limited help to borrowers too (and in any case, I'd be putting any spare cash this did generate either on one side to meet rising repayments later, or reducing my...

08 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

Contactless Without A Choice...?

Interesting development by Barclays in adding contactless technology to all their debit cards. I wonder whether they are planning to offer people the option to opt out of the card type, i.e. have a debit card without the contactless capability...? I think that's the choice I would like to make at this point until I understood how safe it was on th...

06 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

Interest Tax Proposals Expose Financial Naivety

The economic situation we are in has amply demonstrated how Labour doesn't understand finance well enough to be left in charge of the economy. The worrying thing for me is that the Conservatives are showing a similar lack of basic understanding. What chance do we have of getting out of this mess if both parties cannot understand finance at a bas...

06 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

Corporate Debt - A Lender's Perspective

In the paper today was a truly staggering figure - £110 billion of corporate debt that will need to be refinanced in 2009. That is probably a conservative figure, focusing only on the larger companies. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Contrary to what FDs are probably thinking, if I were still a banker, I'd be offering eye-wateri...

04 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

1970's Revisited

The twenty-teenies look to me as if they'll be a replay of the 1970's, here in the UK. No, I don't mean loon pants, two-tones, bad hairdos, glam-rock and tank-tops (but you never know...). No, I mean Sterling crisis, IMF, rampant inflation and industrial strife. Think about it for a minute. First, just like the '70's, we have the imminent collap...

19 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Credit Reports - A Tax By Another Name

I've never received a letter quite like the one I received, over the weekend, from one of my credit card providers. It started with the sentence "Please sign and return the attached application form today to be entitled to a copy of your personal Credit Report." No point in beating about the bush, I guess. None of the flowery rhubarb y...

16 December 2008 /regulation /retail

Retired Member 

A Strictly Important Lesson To Learn

UK residents couldn't have possibly missed the furore about "Strictly Come Dancing" on Saturday - either as viewers of the programme or as observers of the news media subsequently. The events that have played out, and are still playing through, are a great advert for what happens when you don't think things through properly. There were ...

15 December 2008 /retail